Profile: Kluber has shown flashes of strikeout ability in the past, and his FIP last year was a not-bad 4.29 over 12 starts. He likely gets another shot with Cleveland, is unlikely to have fantasy value, but could be worth keeping an eye on. (Chad Young)

Profile: Corey Kluber was all but unknown before 2013, and went on to have a fantastic -- if a bit short -- season. In 147.1 innings, Kluber posted a 3.85 ERA and even fancier 3.30 FIP, with 8.31 strikeouts per nine and just 2.02 walks per nine. Steamer, Oliver and ZIPS all project a step-back from Kluber -- nothing huge, but a few fewer strikeouts, a few more walks, perhaps a small spike in homers, all of which adds up to an ERA and FIP closer to four than the mid-3's. I am not sure I see that much reason to be bearish, though. He has posted high strike outs in the minors and he did his damage last year despite an inflated batting average on balls in play. The biggest red flag for me is the control, which likely won't be quite as good in 2014 as it was in 2013. I'd take a gamble on Kluber, though, and I'd watch that walk rate closely. If he continues to hover near 5.5%, he'll be a terrific asset for both the Indians and fantasy teams. (Chad Young)

The Quick Opinion: Kluber emerged as a solid pitcher last season, but the projection systems see reason for concern. The biggest question is whether or not he can keep the walks in-line. Watch them closely -- if the control is there, his value could stay high.

Profile: Even Carson Cistulli -- founder of The Corey Kluber Society -- couldn't have predicted the extent of Kluber's breakout in 2014. Kluber was a sleeper candidate heading into the 2014 season, thanks to his underlying 2013 peripherals (3.30 FIP, 3.10 xFIP) that hinted at a stronger skill set than his 3.85 ERA might indicate. But what actually happened was one of the more surprising stories of the 2014 season. From the get-go, Kluber was pure filth. His five-pitch arsenal is anchored by a 94 mph sinker that helps him maintain an above-average ground-ball rate. It also includes two truly plus-plus secondary offerings -- a 90mph cutter with so much break that PITCHf/x misclassifies it as a slider and an 83mph slurve that had more horizontal break than any curveball or slider in the majors in 2014. Those offerings led to a 12% swinging-strike rate and a 28% strikeout rate -- both top-five marks among starting pitchers. There's no doubt: Kluber's arsenal is legitimately nasty. Add in good command -- his walk rate and first-pitch strike percentage are both well above league average -- and you've got the complete package. The knock on Kluber in the past was that he allowed hard contact, and the .316 batting average on balls in play suggests that may still be an issue, but Kluber's line drive rate dropped to league-average levels and the terrible, now slightly improved, Indians defense plays a role in that. (August Fagerstrom)

The Quick Opinion: Kluber went from saber-darling to legitimate major league ace in 2014, as evidenced by his American League Cy Young Award victory. The notion of Kluber having hard-contact issues was put to rest, as evidenced by his line drive and home run rates. While you can't necessarily pencil in Kluber for another Cy Young, you can certainly pencil him in as a top-15 pitcher in the MLB.

Profile: In 2013, in these very pages, Carson Cistulli (hereafter referred to as The Founder) brought together a small group of devoted followers, giving birth to the Corey Kluber Society (hereafter referred to as The Society). The Founder, it seems, had discovered the beauty and joy that is borne of watching Corey Kluber pitch. Every five days, The Society grew. By the end of the 2014 season, The Society included basically every baseball fan in the world, as Kluber capped a dominating season by claiming his first Cy Young Award. Going into 2015, Kluber was no longer a sleeper in the fantasy world, and he was once again stellar -- but he might actually be undervalued right now. Kluber's 3.49 ERA and 9 wins left him just 68th in Zach Sanders's 2015 End of Season rankings, 14th among SP. The Indians' lineup is better than the one that only won him nine games and the defense behind him should improve drastically with a full season of Francisco Lindor, plus some less-ballyhooed but still helpful upgrades, closing the gap between his ERA and his 2.97 FIP. I'm betting on a return to the top ten at his position and top five would not surprise me at all. (Chad Young)

The Quick Opinion: Kluber finished 2015 as just the 14th-best fantasy starter which is low given how well the skills maintain from his Cy Young season. Improved defense behind him and better run support should make Kluber a fantasy ace once again.

Profile: Despite his inability to dominate in one of the greatest World Series games of all time (Game 7, on short rest), Kluber’s 2016 season was another rousing success, further solidifying him as one of the more consistent top shelf starting pitchers in the game. Since the beginning of his Cy Young 2014 season, only David Price, Max Scherzer, and Johnny Cueto have thrown more innings than Kluber (averaging 224 IP per season), and among “horses” (min. 200 IP per season) during that same stretch he ranks 3rd in strikeouts per nine innings (9.9), 5th in walks per nine innings (2.05), and 5th in earned run average (3.01), the last of which is heavily supported by a fielding independent ERA of 2.84 over the same period. Despite being the textbook definition of consistency, fantasy owners may preview 2017 with some small degree of caution when they notice the spike in Kluber’s walk rate (7%) last season coincided with his lowest strikeout percentage (26%) in three years. Perhaps some of that strikeout rate slippage can be attributed to a more than 5% decrease in slider usage, but with no major decline evident in the average velocity of his pitches, and no red flags found in his batted ball data either, owners can breathe easy and feel confident that Corey Kluber offers one of the safest, most productive starting pitcher profiles in the game.(Trey Baughn)

The Quick Opinion: Kluber’s 2016 surface stats might look just a little less shiny than his two previous stellar seasons, but fantasy owners have little to worry about. Pitching almost all of 2017 at the age of 31, Kluber is still in his Cy Young-candidate prime and should be counted on to deliver another 215+ IP of high quality production on what appears to be a very strong Indians team.

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